Meath hurlers poor run continues in Derry

Meath's dismal run in the NHL Div 3A continued at Swatragh on Sunday when they lost out by a point to Derry in a closely-fought encounter which they could easily have won. After starting the campaign with some promising displays, which saw them regain the Kehoe Cup, the disappointment and the despondency in the camp after this latest set back was palpable. Derry finished with 14 men after they had Cormac McKenna sent off in the closing stages. Victory was beyond Meath largely because of their inaccuracy in front of goals which produced 12 wides and they now face the prospect of having to defeat Armagh on Sunday next in a basement battle of pointless teams. The sides were level on six occasions in the first-half before Meath edged into a 0-7 to 0-6 lead at the break with four Nicky Horan points (three frees), Joey Keena, David Raleigh and Stephen Clynch on the mark. Horan and Clynch registered points in the opening minutes of the second-half to stretch Meath's lead to three points, but Derry took charge subsequently with points from Oisin McCloskey, Paddy Henry, Kevin Hinphy and Rory Convery had the Oak Leak on the way to vitory by the 53rd minute. Another scoring spell for Derry produced a brace of points apiece for Hinphy and Convery while Meath substitute Dave Kirby split the posts and kept his side in contention. Following McKenna's red card departure Meath upped the tempo and reeled off points from Horan, Kirby and Paudge Geoghegan which reducing the deficit to the minimum (0-13 to 0-14) with three minutes remaining. Henry got Derry's insurance point before Horan took his final score from a 50-metre free, but the clock ended any prospects of a reprieve. Derry - D McDermott; A Rafferty, C Quinn, L Hawkins; C McKenna, M Craig, B Glass; K Hinphy (0-4), O McCloskey; A Grant, R Convery (0-6 two frees, one '65'), P Henry (0-3 free); O Doherty, P McCloskey (0-2), P Kelly. Sub - S Cassidy for O Doherty. Meath - S McGann; W Mahady, E Fitzgerald, M Foley; M Lynch, P Fagan, M Horan; G O'Neill, S Donoghue; P Geogeghan (0-1), S Clynch (0-2), J Keena (0-1); D Doran, N Horan (0-7), D Raleigh (0-1). Subs - P Keogh for O'Neill, D Kirby (0-2) for S Donoghue, P Durnin for D Raleigh, N Hackett for D Doran. Referee - E Shaughnessy (Galway).